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Published: February 7th 2010
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Mission Beach
Give that man a Bounty Townsville = Dullsville
Jan 26th - Jan 28th Now to be fair to Townsville it may be a completely different place when it isn't in the midst of a torrential downpour but we found it to be deserted, tired and rundown looking with a lot of empty shops and a large population of drunks on the street.
Our stay coincided with the rains from Cyclone Olga. This was rain unlike we had seen before. It was coming down in sheets and rivers were running down the streets. It was relentless. The waterproofs (last seen back in November at Mount Gambier) were back out and we got drenched from the waist down going to the supermarket to get supplies. We arrived in Townsville on Australia Day and were expecting to join in the festivities but we could see nothing going on. It was like a ghost town.
We had our own room at the Reef Lodge hostel and it had a TV which was a huge novelty for us so we spent most of our time inside watching Andy Murray play tennis. We had planned on going to Magnetic Island but thought that wouldn't be much fun in the
rain so gave that a miss. At least we didn't spend much money!
Mission Beach
Jan 29th - Feb 1st The rains were pelting on Mission Beach too but luckily only for two of our days there. We stayed at the Treehouse YHA which is, as the name would suggest, a type of treehouse structure in the middle of the rainforest. It is a bus ride from the beach but because of the location is very peaceful (if you don't count the deafening noise of insects) and a great place to relax - it even has a pool.
We really enjoyed our time there although going to the toilet was like entering the insect house of a zoo. There were all kinds of moths and flying insects all over the mirrors and walls. On one memorable occasion I went to the loo and found a little lizard staring at me from the door when I closed it. Because of the open plan nature of the main building there were insects, lizards, moths and ants all over the place. There were hundreds of tiny ants on the work surfaces (this made me feel a bit ill so Simon
took over cooking duties) and one night we had to rescue a praying mantis that had fallen in the sink. Unfortunately it didn't make it and was soon devoured by the evil ants.
Obviously I was a prime target for all the biting insects and ended up covered in mozzie bites all over my legs and arms. And I was wearing long trousers in the evening! They were very itchy. Going to the toilet in the night was a mission because you would have to battle through the swarms of flying insects and beetles that hover around the light near the toilet. I took to wearing a towel over my head to do this. But at night because there was no light pollution the stars were amazing. There were so many of them and the moon, which was almost full, was completely spectacular.
We took the bus into Mission Beach on Sunday with the aim of doing a rainforest walk but found the humidity to be unbearable so just managed a walk along the beach. The beach is lovely with rainforest and palm trees along the shore, it kind of reminded us of Fiji. There were also hundreds
of tiny crabs along the beach that would scurry along to their holes as we walked past. They covered a large portion of the beach and it looked as if the sand itself was moving.
The humidity made it feel like we were walking through a thick hot shower so we went for a bite to eat at a lovely restaurant on the beach called The Shrubbery. The food was outstanding. I had my first roast dinner since June and it was divine. Tender roast lamb with roasted veges and mint sauce. Yummy. Simon had a roast lamb roll with home cut wedges. We just about made it back to the hostel without drowning in our own sweat and spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool watching out for the wallaby that would come out and eat the grass.
We had a really relaxing time in Mission Beach and enjoyed the tranquility of the rainforest (though not the insects) which was a nice contrast to the beaches we have seen along the east coast.
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